Middie Blythe Customizations

Commission for her mom in Italy, Little Lily Brown Middie in for some custom work. She will get a new carving, face-up and a custom mohair wig with custom handpainted chips.

This is Lilliette, My Macaron Q-Tea party Middie Blythe. I wanted to customize her so I researched around and found some tips from some great friends in the community. My most important tip was from GBaby who gave me the excellent advise to keep track with photos of each step and parts to make it easier to put her back together again. I also went ahead and labeled all the screws so I knew what part they came from.

If you have ever opened an RBL or FBL, you can open her head just the same by applying pressure over the ears and temple area until the sides release. Prior to that I lifted the scalp away from the face plate line.

She does look a bit intimidating inside. She is completely different from a RBL and FBl inside. I went in and inspected and started removing screws and labeling them and snapping a photo each step along the way.

The last component I took apart was the eye mech. I unscrewed it and the removed the eyechips by scoring the glue in the back of the eye case. I then applied pressure and pushed the eyechip toward the back of the eye case (not pulled out the front like Neo Blythe). And it pops out the back of the eye case.

I then painted the back of the existing chips, soaked the lids to remove the lashes, painted the lids and applied new lashes.

I then sanded the faceplate, did my carvings and faceup.

With all of my parts dry, I went ahead and reassembled the parts referencing my labels and photos to make sure to put the proper screws in place and how the interior mechanism looked before I took it apart.

I reassembled her and put her scalp back on and here she is after customization. I wanted her to have a soft, feminine look and pink really highlights her blue eyes.

I love her hair but I wanted Lilliette to have a more custom look and felt pink mohair would do the trick so I let her try on a few wigs.

These photos are her in a Blythe sized Sleeeping Elf wig she borrowed just to give me an idea if I would like her that way. I thought she looked precious so I was on a mission to find her a cotton candy pink re-root.

I found the perfect wig for her so I needed to remove her existing scalp. I simply ran a X-acto Knife arount the base of the scalp and the wig scalp came right off. She was left with a nice clean dome.

Lilliette is happy with her new look and loves her two toned pink mohair Sleeping Elf Wig. I am so happy that I was able to get a Middie and overjoyed that I successfully customized her. I wanted to share my steps and photos so no one else feels so inimitaed to give it a try. It is trial and error but not the end of the world. Give it a try!

8 comments:

Well, I don't have a middie, but I sure loved each of your photos and the process that you shared. It was amazing and she is so darling. Pink hair is wonderful on her. Great job and thank you for taking the time to photograph the process. xo Rella

I'm actually looking for the right size for a middie. This is the first time I have ever attempted to make a doll but it seem like so much fun to do! Also I'm looking for the eye brackets to go inside! Could you point me in the right direction! I'm super excited!!!

I'm actually looking for the right size for a middie. This is the first time I have ever attempted to make a doll but it seem like so much fun to do! Also I'm looking for the eye brackets to go inside! Could you point me in the right direction! I'm super excited!!!